Shanghai Scene
by ariescelestial
Summary: A snapshot at the end of the world: broken bodies, plastered harmonixers, and a crazed woman left to mourn. R for hint of rape


The girl had stopped screaming a while ago, right after her first 'customer'. Each man ducked behind the stage curtain and Yuri would hear pants and gasps, but the young woman made no sound, and after a few minutes the man would come back out and drop a coin into her old man's cup for a 'tip'. Idly Yuri wondered whether or not the first man had killed her, and if he'd have sex with a corpse. Probably cheaper than a whore, he reasoned, and tighter too; the men had been trumpeting her recent loss of virginity. She hadn't looked half-bad either, but then Yuri rejected the idea. He liked his women with a bit of spunk, in which corpses were sadly lacking. 

He drained the last of his beer and pushed it forward for an instant refill. Drinks had been free ever since a man had come to the bar and announced the ceremony underway. Yuri had no idea what this ceremony was, and he didn't give a damn as long as his mug was full. Everyone else had been happy too, until the damn old man had asked, no, demanded for tips after his daughter's chinese violin performance. Something had gotten him riled up, some Adept they were talking about, and he had gone too far.

Now she laid silent on one side of the stage curtain, and he sat silent on a barstool in the other side, and the men had regained their earlier humor. One was bragging as he waved a ragged paper how they'd all be on the front page tomorrow. The newspaper had a black-and-white picture of a buxom woman, headlines above proclaiming the Japanese army's capture and execution of a spy.

"Wish I could've fucked her first," he grumbled. "It's all corpses or whores for me." His head was awash in drink, but Yuri liked that feeling; it dulled the migraine that came when the damn voice yelled at him. Ever since he'd refused to get on a train with the ridiculous mission to save 'a girl'--out of how many female passengers?--it'd been coming with a vengeance every night, screaming that he needed to go one place or another to prevent some catastrophe, save some lives, find his destiny, and some other bullshit. Tonight so far had been ominously silent; the voice was probably listing out all the names it had for him. Well, let it, Yuri thought with a snort. He planned to be drunk under the counter before it came.

An exclamation rose up among the men and, curious, Yuri turned to see the first customer, a man dressed in a red suit and decked out in gold jewelry. "The time is at hand!"

Yuri supposed that meant the ceremony was done, but that didn't explain the sudden rush to the door. The crowded pub emptied as men filed into the street. A slightly tipsy Yuri followed, leaving the sullen old man behind.

Everyone stared at one building farther away in the city. Yuri was amazed as yellow bolts of lightning crackled around it, centered at the top. A hush had fallen over the strange crowd of half-drunk men. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Yuri's stomach. Had the voice known about something like this, was this why it had stayed silent for so long?

There was an intense flash, making Yuri swear as he tried to blink away his blindness. Gasps rose up and Yuri looked to see, dimly, a large feminine form in place of the lightning bolts. Suddenly he winced as a headache finally started, though it wasn't as bad as the usual ones. The damn voice was finally chipping its two cents--At least you'll die first...

Yuri's eyes widened as a high, inhuman shriek ripped through the air. The shockwave accompanying it tore through the crowd, tossing men aside as if they were paper dolls. Yuri was thrown all the way through the bar into the counter where he had just been drinking. He died instantly.

A continent away, a woman cried out as pain seared through her head. It lasted for less than a second though, evidence of his speedy demise, and she was glad. Already, others had died because of him, like the other Key Dehuai had used, and many in Shanghai were dying. He had fated the entire world to die--it was only fitting that he die first.


End file.
